


Date Night

by Professor Fries (ClaireOShea)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cooking, M/M, Marriage Proposal, headcanons for a culture, no beta we die like Glenn, so much made up information
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21610915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireOShea/pseuds/Professor%20Fries
Summary: The door signed turned to “Closed”, the “Open” flag that would usually sit in a post outside now hanging on a hook in the storage closet, and few lights currently on in the establishment. It wasn’t by any means ideal, but date night is date night, there’s no two ways about it.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	Date Night

**Author's Note:**

> Between myself and another person on a Discord server (Hi there Annie) we had this idea that in Duscur a person would put the ring with a dish of food. Then I made food an integral part of the Duscur culture. I'm really happy with how this turned out and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The door signed turned to “Closed”, the “Open” flag that would usually sit in a post outside now hanging on a hook in the storage closet, and few lights currently on in the establishment. It wasn’t by any means ideal, but date night is date night, there’s no two ways about it. 

“Not ideal” would be the best way to describe how the day had gone so far. Ideally, the hours would have played out like every other day, open the doors for the restaurant, fix food for customers, close up then head home. Instead, there were more customers than usual so business hours had to be slightly extended, then a food stock decided to spoil early so Dedue had to seek out replacements. At least that was one thing that played in Ashe’s favor. He would be able to cook their meal without fear of his secret plan being found out prematurely. Date Night would be had in their restaurant rather than another, but at least it could be salvaged. Not that Ashe particularly minded that little detail though, it would only serve to make his plan more easily executable. 

“Alright Ashe, you’ve cooked this dish over one hundred times, stop shaking,” he tried giving himself a small pep talk, noticing his hand trembling before and after pushing a knife down into vegetables. He full well knew that it wasn’t preparation of the dish itself that was causing this reaction, it was everything else transpiring around it. 

The velvet blue box sitting further down the counter was staring him down,  _ intimidating him _ . Bringing up questions he didn’t want to think about, that he didn’t want to dignify with a response. After all, the answers he would come up with would only disappoint and sadden him in the end. 

Duscur had always been a subject of interest for Ashe, even while studying at the Officer’s Academy almost eight years ago now when the only thing he would be able to tell about Dedue, if asked, would be that he enjoyed cooking and was from Duscur. It wasn’t something he had come to find interest in by proxy of him, but rather a curiosity picked up after near constantly hearing about the Tragedy of Duscur. Ashe had lived a good fraction of his life being painted as the bad guy, considering his resort to theivery when times were tough for his family. Having been the hero, as well as the villain, in many stories, he wanted to know about the other side of the conflict, even if such information was simple cultural fun facts. After all, they were just people all the same, not heartless regicidal monsters as they were often talked up to be. 

Dedue was an invaluable resource for learning about the Duscur culture, but he could only be bothered so much about it, and asking about some subject matter would be a bit in the nose. After the true culprits behind the Tragedy of Duscur were found out, new texts written by residents of its past had resurfaced, quite timely for the cultural revitalization project King Dimitri was overseeing, his former vassal serving as a head advisor. The King was gracious enough to let Ashe skim through the documents before unveiling them to the public. 

_ Family is those you break bread with _ he remembered reading. It definitely explained why much of other facets of the culture revolved around food, why food was so integrated into nearly every holiday and festivity of the territory. From a special cake made to celebrate the birth of a child, a feast at a kin’s coming of age, a proposal accompanied by a meal, food is everywhere. Even at a funeral, food is left for those who have passed so they do not go hungry on their journey to the afterlife. 

“Maybe I should set this aside for now, don’t know when Dedue will be back,” Ashe spoke to himself, sliding the small box behind a roll of paper towels then returning to his meal in progress. 

The duck with the chopped vegetables was now in a roaster simmering in the oven, all that was left to do was wait for it to cook. Time to prepare the desert, some simple tea biscuits. Baking sweets was never a strong suit of Ashe’s, everything he had come to know being passed onto him by either Annette or Mercedes, so the simpler to make, the less room for error and disaster. 

Melted butter, a couple of eggs, some milk, flour, sugar, and chocolate bits. Six ingredients thrown into a bowl, mixed together, then shaped out on a pan, nothing incredibly demanding. Annette and Mercedes were always so particular about the shape of their cookies, Annette opting for hearts and bells while Mercedes always managed to get a perfectly formed star. One time she was able to get treats shaped like deer, lions, and birds for the three respective houses during their time at the Officer’s Academy, after the battle of the Eagle and Lion when the all ate together. Meanwhile Ashe was lucky if he could get them all to stay relatively in the same circular form. 

“That flame should keep for awhile,” he deduced after feeding the fire currently sitting under the food to cook it more fire, thinking through the last preparations he had to make. Setting up the table, arguably the least demanding of all that had to be done. A red tablecloth, the black tableware set to later be pulled from the cupboard, and a candle for the middle of the space. 

“Yes, that would be perfect.” He quickly got to work. 

Ashe selected a table further towards the back of their admittedly humble restaurant, wanting to not be too far away from the kitchen but also not so close to the front door where Dedue would quickly catch glimpse of the setup. 

“It smells as though the duck is done roasting, and the biscuits are probably finished as well,” Ashe thought to himself, leaving the now set table to rush back into the kitchen to tend to the food. A splash of water killed the flame blazing underneath, the harsh heat now gone but still enough lingering to keep the meal warm. The cookie tray slid out and the treats got slid into a jar. 

There was a knock on the door before it opened, promptly followed up with a familiar deep set voice. 

“I am back,” Dedue kept his introduction short, shutting the door with his side before moving towards the kitchen, likely towards the side storeroom for the bulk of their ingredients. “You are still here? I assumed you would have headed for home already.”

“Of course not, I thought you might need help here,” Ashe replied, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “I’ll take this bag of spices and shelf them,” he said before taking the burlap bag of his large grasp. 

“What is that smell?” Dedue questioned, stepping into the side room. 

“Oh, I decided to bake some treats while you were out, to kill some time and be productive while I waited,” Ashe answered, hoping that his nostrils too were picking up the chocolate and sugar more than the roasting duck. Given the lack of a follow up, he was assuredly in the clear, his omission of fact not caught. 

“It is getting late. I suppose we will have to reschedule date night,” Dedue spoke. 

“Well, I also cooked a meal for us here while I waited for you. We won’t be able to play our usual game, but it is a meal nonetheless. I set a table further towards the back, you go ahead of me and I’ll bring the plated food,” Ashe filled him in on most of what he had planned. 

“You are very thoughtful. I look forward to seeing what you have prepared,” he nodded, a small smile parting his lips before he took his leave. 

Food plated, presentation looking nice, it was now or never. 

“Roasted duck?” Dedue inquired as Ashe set the plates onto the table. The younger nodded in affirmation. 

“It’s been awhile since we’ve had it, and there was a good deal on duck at the market the other day. It was almost like we were meant to have it. The price of duck also fluctuates a lot so restaurants don’t usually serve it,” Ashe went off on a bit of a tangent. “It feels weird, eating our own food in our own restaurant. It almost doesn’t feel real that we’ve made it this far.”

“I understand how you feel. I too sometimes doubt our reality, especially considering how tumultuously the almost decade has been thus far. But there is no question that we are not dreaming,” Dedue commented. “Thank you for this meal, Ashe. It was delicious. I will have to return the favor sometime.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Ashe smiled, lips curling wide and his eyes shutting. When they opened, they saw a cleared plate.  _ Empty. It wasn’t supposed to be empty.  _

_ Did he eat the ring? Ashe’s mind went into panic mode.  _ It was a thick ring band of silver. Even with Dedue’s high threshold of Things He Would Eat, there’s no way he would have not chipped a tooth on it, let alone swallow it whole. 

“Is something wrong?” Dedue posed, his anxiety painted on his face clear as day. 

“Oh, I’m uh just going to check the kitchen to make sure the oven flame has gone out,” Ashe came up with an excuse to get up that also wouldn’t cause suspicion, although that may be a criteria impossible to meet now. If Dedue didn’t eat the ring, then that means the ring never found its way onto the plate. 

There it was, the little blue velvet box, sitting behind the roll of paper towels. here it was moved to keep it out of his lover's sight, but mostly to keep it from taunting his inner thoughts. If they were bad before, then now was even worse. If he couldn't even be bothered to remember the ring, where he had put it, then surely this wasn't meant to be.    
  
No, you've already gotten this far, you have to follow through with it. Ashe pep talked himself yet again. What's the worst that could happen anyway? He says no, that it's too soon, a bit of awkward tension for awhile but ultimately alright in the end.    
  
Before he had the time to doubt himself again, he stashed the ring box in his pocket and returned to their table.    
  
"Is everything alright?" Dedue followed up.    
  
"Yeah," Ashe answered quickly. "I know this isn't exactly right, didn't go quite as I had planned because I'm a bit of a dunce but..." He trailed off, pulling the ring out of his pocket, setting it on the table beside Dedue's plate and flicking the box open. "Would you make me the happiest, luckiest man alive and marry me?" He finally got his request out. "If this is too soon or I'm coming on too strong, I'm sorry."   
  
"No, it is alright," Dedue answered. A single tear was wiped away from his eye.    
  
"Oh no, have I done something to upset you?"   
  
"You've done nothing wrong." A sigh of relief came from the grey haired man. "Even if it was imperfect in its traditional execution, it came from you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I accept."   
  
"You do?" Ashe questioned, unbelieving of the response he had gotten. Dedue nodded a confirmation, taking the band from the box to observe it before sliding it onto his ring finger. So this really was so.    
  
"And while I know this was merely a coincidence on your part, this was the very meal my father served my mother."   
  
"Was it really?" The younger inquired, gaining a nod in response. "Well, that really is quite a coincidence then."   
  
"How did you come to know of this custom? I do not recall informing you of it myself."   
  
"Oh, I read it in one of the texts the castle library has, and I'm happy I came across it. Would have been a bit on the nose to ask you directly, huh?" Ashe asked rhetorically. "Now, how about we have some tea to go with those biscuits I made earlier?"   
  
"Having tea and biscuits with my fiancé, Dedue," Ashe muttered under his breath, to test the new label out. He liked the sound of it.    
  
  


  
  
  
  
  



End file.
